The Old Main Bridge

The view over Marktheidenfeld is especially characterized by one of the oldest bridges over the Bavarian part of the Main river. It was built under the regency of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, from the designs of the Aschaffenburg District Engineer Georg Heinrich May under the surveillance of Leo von Klenze during the 19th century, using enormous sandstone blocks. It was opened for traffic in January 1846.

In World War II - briefly before the American invasion in April 1945 - two arches of the bridge were blown up - the only considerably war damage at Marktheidenfeld. Because of its vital importance the bridge was restored immediately and until the opening of the Spessart Highway in the early 1960s the east-western traffic went through our town. That meant a short-lived relief. The enormous utilization of the highway and the increased importance of Marktheidenfeld because of its central location makes the traffic situation often very tense.
This has been highly improved by the construction of a second bridge over the Main, the Northern Bridge, which was opened for traffic in December 2002.

As a result of the bridge construction and the traffic running through market square, the old gates houses had to be torn down and the street network was redirected towards Obertorstraße and Brückenstraße.

On the far side of the bridge a bust reminds of the "bridge builder" King Ludwig. Above it the Mainberg is towering, one of the oldest fortifications of the town, where in 1934 the war memorial was built as a tower. After World War II it was changed into a cenotaph for the victims of war and violence. According to tradition the Mainberg was a place of violence until 1624, where the executions of the Medieval witch hunts took place.